Merry CHRISTmas

God bless you this CHRISTmas 2008!


We have talked with our sons Andy & Tyler today and what a blessing to have two of the greatest son's in the world! Andy will spend the day with the St. Louis Faasens', my brother Jim & Kathy's family. Tyler & Tracy tell us that Teya is now saying Dada. They will spend the day with Tracy's folks Greg & Elizabeth in Chicago. Teya is so cute in the Xmas suit that Barb Horne sent her. Thanks to Elizabeth for the attached picture card.


We have been pleasantly surprised with the arrival of Loli (Jenny's mom) here in south Texas Tuesday. She will spend the next several months with us here living in our RV. Jenny & Loli are now busy in the kitchen with Turkey, taters, pies. etc. Oh boy, almost time to tie on the feed-bag.

Now for the good news. We had a wonderful CHRISTmas eve communion service last night at Cornerstone and then some great food with family and friends.

It's 85* here and I think a nap at the pool this afternoon after some tennis in our future.

May God bless you and yours this season as you welcome Him into your home and heart.

Trip to Falcon Dam

Yesterday a group from our community (Tip-O-Texas) took a Motor Cycle trip west to Falcon Dam. Our round trip mileage was in the 200 range as we took some very cool back roads on the way out. We crossed the dam into Mexico to Nueva Ciudad Guerrero for lunch at La Fuente's. Very hot (85*+) and sunny all day. A great day riding with no problems!

Jenny crossing Falcon dam with the lake in the back ground.

Salt water fishing at Laguna Madre

I recently had my first salt water fishing trip to Laguna Madre with my buddy Larry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Madre

This was the maiden voyage of Larry's new salt water boat. We had a fun day and even brought home a few fish. Larry landed the big one which took about 25 minutes to land. Just north of 15lbs. The great thing about salt water is, you NEVER know what you will pull in. I caught a sting ray and Larry caught crabs. (ha,ha)

Cornerstone remodel

Jenny & I attend a really great church here in the Rio Grande Valley. check us out: http://www.cornerstonechurchrgv.com/
Over the past several weeks we have worked hard to take our facility and our relationship with the Lord to the next level. Well, Phase 1 is complete as we head into the CHRISTmas season and a great new series "CHRISTmas in HD".

Thanks to some very talented and hard working people. One aspect of the remodel was adding an arced stage, here are the before and after pictures:

BEFORE

AFTER

Biking Bentsen State Park

Bentsen State Park is a very cool park right on the Rio Grande River in Misson Texas. We recently had a nice group load up the bikes and after breakfast headed down to tour the park and visit the wildlife. You can check out the park at: http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/

We did see a lot of wildlife including this little friend. Also, the river is very high as Mexico has had floods recently.

OK, I've been busy!

Since returning to South Texas (McAllen) it has been very busy. (Where does the time go?) Let's catch up:

1. I headed up our first ever financial seminar at Cornerstone church. We had a great time and the attendance was about 65-70 folks. It was based on Crown Ministry with several practical next steps. We will be starting small groups and counseling in early 09.



2. Finished the banister and hand rail to our loft. (picture below) Just need to rework a stair tread and finish trim.



3. Jenny & I have been riding the bicycles as time permits. I completed my first ever time trial, 6.2 miles in 17:27min.



4. Been fishing with my good buddy Larry several times and had great fun! (Freezer full) Got this cool picture at Falcon Lake.



5. 5. Attended a web design course and made my first ever web site for Larry's fishing guide buddy: southtexasfishingguideservice.com/ Check it out.


6. Church has been awesome getting reconnected and working with the team. Last week we completed a MAJOR redesign of our worship center taking us to "the next level". Couldn't have done it without my good friend Larry and several others.


7. Pastor Loui is currently in a prayer series that is REALLY challenging: www.cornerstonechurchrgv.com/


8. We have completed our first Craft Fair luncheon and Jenny did a great job. She has a wonderful team!


9. Jenny and Kim traveled up and back to Austin in one day to pick up Chiquita (Jenny's lap rat) as Barb is moving to Galveston with FEMA and can't take her.

Thanksgiving week is upon us for some rest and catch up with friends.

Treking back to south Texas...

We have now been on the road several days heading to the TOT after visiting Jen's mom in Salem Missouri. We visited with the Chapmans in Dallas playing golf and dinner. Then off to Austin for dinner with Barb Horne. Here's Barb's new home on wheels. We had a lot of fun, but had to get out of Austin as the Hog fans invaded. Hookum Horns.
We are in San Antonio with Adam & Cheryl Jones now. Last night after installing a new ceiling fan we had a great dinner prepared by chef Adam. Today it's golf and then off to the valley arriving tonight. Can't wait to get home, see friends and get back to our home church Cornerstone. http://www.cornerstonechurchrgv.com/index.php?op=page&cmsid=1

Dave V8 CHOPPER at the Drags

We had a great time this past Wednesday running Dave's V8 Chopper at Gateway International Speedway. Four runs with some very good times. enjoy!

Vicki & Gato back to Kansas

Catching Up

Ramblings from St. Louis
1. Recently a good friend, Ernie Stabler (on the right) of the "Clark Clan" went to be with the Lord. Ernie was a wonderful gentle hearted man who loved the Lord. This picture was taken a few years ago at the Washington Missouri Ham Fest. It will always be a special memory.

2. Saturday Jenny & I attended a very good financial seminar at Grace church here in St. Louis. (where we met the Lord) The leaders were very open and shared some very good stuff.

3. One of Andy's favorite places to hang is the Loop next to Forrest Park here in St. Louis. It's a very "cool" place. We toured there Sunday and had lunch at Blue Berry Hill. (Chuck Berry's Place) They are known to have the best burgers in the Midwest and I can't argue the point.


















4. Last night David, Dan & I headed over the river to Gateway International Speedway to run the V8 Chopper in the 1/4 mile. Dave completed 4 runs and a good time was had by all. I hope to have a video uploaded soon. Who doesn't love the smell of fuel, rubber and a LOT of loud motors. Here's a Pic of Dave and Dan discussing what to tune the next run to.

TOT Tennis Camp

TOT Tennis Camp 2008 - Is in the books!


Our group met in Moline IL Labor Day week at Sunset Lakes Resort. Although our group was a bit smaller than most years the fun was not to be detered.
A wonderful time was had by all. Main events for the week included: Rain day trip to the "Dark Knight" at the IMAX, Tennis, Bike ride, Theatre night, Fish fry, Brat BBQ, Horse races, US Open watching, oh and did I mention food?
To all that attended, if you have more pictures please send them and I will add to the show. See you all at the Tip.

Teya is almost 2 months old

We were blessed to spend this past week in Chicago with Teya and oh yea, Tyler and Tracy tooo. She has grown so much in the past 6 weeks. She actually spent 2 nights with us in the RV. Loli Pop (Jenny) and I (Pop) had a wonderful time!
Tyler and Tracy camped with us and enjoyed BBQing, camp fires and the out doors generally.

Olympics - Beijing 2008

Was it just me or were the 2008 Olympics amazing?

While on vacation in Minnesota this August I was glued to the Olympics. (only by the magic of DVR)

Several great things happened:

1. I came up with a new nick name for Jen - Jing Jing.

2. These athletes are truly gifted and commit ed to their sports.

3. The use of drugs are slowly being eliminated.

4. What a blessing it is to live in the USA where honesty, freedom and fairness is expected.

Voyageurs National Park

Voyageurs National Park on the Minnesota Canadian Boundary Waters - http://www.nps.gov/voya/



We just enjoyed 3 days of fishing and fun with Larry and Joann Booth up in the Boundary waters at Crane Lake, Mn.
The park totals almost a quarter million acres of land and water with over 500 islands and 655 miles of shoreline.
The scenery was just amazing and the fish are really big!

We stayed at a cool little place, the Pine Point Lodge. (http://www.pinepointlodge.com/) With NO TV, phone service or Internet it proved to be very peaceful. The time was also good for the guys concentration on our card game as we traveled home undefeated by the girls. Jenny enjoyed her first visit to Ontario for lunch Eh.

Toad Lake Fishing

Eagle Feeding at Toad Lake Mn.\

Here's a short video of the eagle we viewed at Toad Lake while fishing. It was an amazing thing to see. Unfortunately I missed the actual pick up by the bird.

At days end we had about 35 nice fish for a planned fish fry at our upcoming tennis week at Moline.

This may not be the eagle I am told.... What do you think? Perhaps an Osprey?

Mississippi Head Waters

Mississippi river head waters - Itasca State Park
Question - Do you know how long it takes a drop of water to travel from start o the Mississippi (Itasca State Park) to the end (New Orleans)? READ ON












Sunday we packed a picnic lunch and headed off to Itasca State park. The park is about 45 minutes NW of us here in Nevis MN. The park is full of fun things to see and do. This is where the Mississippi river starts from the parks water shed. ://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/itasca/index.html



After a bike ride we enjoyed lunch followed by a tour of the park.



Jenny of course had to show off and walk across the river.

A drop takes 3 months to travel the river.

Fishing with the Booths

The fishing here is great....



After an early start we hit Toad Lake with a vengeance. Taking on all types of fish. We viewed several birds feeding on the lake. The highlight was a bald eagle swooping down from about 200 feet to scope up a small fish just in front of us. At the conclusion of the day it was Booth boat 35 and lake zero. Also, for honorable mention Jenny landed a nice bass.

Nevis Minn

Nevis Minn - Friday we arrived in Nevis, Minn. This is truly a beautiful part of God's creation full of lakes, trees, and animals. We have already played tennis & cards, been fishing, rode bikes, went to church and attended the Dorset festival. Great food and much to see.
We are staying at http://www.belleshoresresort.com/ The Booth's are just 100 yards down the road and it is such fun to reconnect with them. The resort is peaceful with a sand beach and much to do. I am off for a swim and to get the tackle ready for fishing tomorrow at 5:00am. (you know Larry)

God bless,

Motor Home Stuck at Corey's

Departed Iowa after a great visit with Corey & Kim Sawatzky, but not with out some challenges.

So while Corey was traveling I took the opportunity to place several ruts in his front yard while heading out for Omaha. His neighbor Derrick was kind enough to pull me out with his 2 ton logging truck.

We then had a blow out on the truck we we towing but made it to Omaha all the same. After 2 days of golf and fun with the Cuda's we were off to Nevis, Minn.

RAGBRAI 2008 in the books

Yes, I did complete the 2008 bicycle ride across Iowa.

Stats:

484 miles and my first century ride. See route: http://www.ragbrai.org/

Brats, corn, pieces of pie, pork chops, rib eyes and ice creams eaten - a lot.

Yes, there was an Elvis sighting somewhere in central Iowa. The folks of Iowa did their self's proud. The towns we visited and stayed in were friendly and very accommodating.
At the mid point in Ames we were treated to a great concert by Styx and they played all of the hits. Lance Armstrong spoke to the crowd of 20,000 and all of the proceeds went for flood relief in Iowa.
The first several days were very hot with elevation climbs from 3,000 to 5,000 feet daily. We finished the week with two pretty easy days of 63 and 53 miles which were relatively flat. We had the joy of spending time with Sandy Miller and her daughter Bridgett. (In the picture below) Also, check out the photo album link to the right.

RAGBRAI 2008

Well made it to Iowa for the RAGBRAI annual bicycle ride across IOWA. The ride will total 471 miles. Day 1 & 2 was filed with hills a lot of elevation. Day 2 was also my first century ride of 100 miles. Today, day 3 we ended up in Ames and are camping at the university. Off for some Mexican food and the STYX concert tonight. I will post a photo album later in the week. And yes Elvis has left the building, but not Coon Rapids, IOWA!

Good by - Chicago

We had a wonderful time in Chicago with Tyler, Tracy, Teya and family. We ended our time with a great BBQ out at the RV park we stayed at.

Hello to all,

We had a great weekend. We attended church at HBC Elgin. The worship was live and the message was a simulcast by James MacDonald on "Are you saved?" from the Arlington Heights location. Great message with an interesting format. http://www.harvestbible.org/Content.aspx?content_id=40&site_id=4

This was a first for Jenny & I. Then off to golf with with old friends, Sue and Adrian.

We concluded the day going out for Pizza with Teya and the group.

TEYA is in the middle of her first Saturday.

Grandma is baby sitting while Tracy grabs a nap. I'm at the local coffee shop bringing you this post as we don't have Internet at our park location. Teya had her followup doctors appointment yesterday and all is well. The doctor is within walking of their home and they loved her.

You can check out the photo album that is hot off the press with all of Teya's pictures.

It's been RAIN, RAIN & more RAIN here in Chicago. We have fit in a few bicycle rides in between drops. See the evening sunset here below. We are staying at a very nice Forrest Preserve (Paul Wollf) in Kane County just outside of Chicago. We are about 20 miles from the kids.

Funny thing we ran into a couple from TOT (our winter home in Pharr, Greg & Bonnie) at this park. What are the odds?